The Politics Of NO!

No is one of the most often used words in the English language.  We say it to our kids, our pets, and to each other many times in a day.  Much of the time we use this word, there is a valid reason behind it, but other times there is none.

Some people get in the habit of saying no to almost everything. We've all known a few like that and they can be quite irritating.  However, worse than an individual naysayer, there is now a group of people in our country to which "NO" really means "I'm going to tell you how you should live your life and under what rules you should live it.".  This group of people goes by several names.  They may be called the Tea Party, hard line conservatives, social conservatives, or the religious right.  It matters little what they are called, but it matters a great deal what they want to do to the lives of rest of us.

They are against....well....they are against almost everything.  Of course we all know that being for or against something in our nation is not against the law.  In fact, that type of spirited debate is one of the strengths of our country.  It's what free elections are built upon, as we each decide which candidate or ballot measure to vote for, or not.  That's the way a democracy works.

However, while a belief of being against or for something is a right of all United States citizens, forcing, or even trying to force, all of us to adhere to that belief (or set of beliefs) is not.  That stops being a democracy and slides into the realm of a dogma.

The above mentioned group of people would like for gays to disappear, and God forbid that any of them would be allowed to get married.  Some from this group believes that being gay is a condition that can be cured, instead of an act of birth.  They want women to hold their place and never compete with men.  They want evolution to not be taught in our schools, but instead, would prefer the teaching of a pseudo science they have named "creation science."  A segment of the creation science crowd will tell you with a straight face that the earth is really only ten to twelve thousand years old.  Yeah....right!  They want only English spoken in our nation.  They want our borders locked down tightly so that, no one who isn't a white god fearing Christian American ever be allowed in, failing to realize that immigration is one the building blocks that made our nation strong, and that some of our ancestors (and theirs) weren't exactly legal when they came to this country. If you are of a faith other than Christianity, well then out you go because we can't have that, can we.  Further, they want a government in which religion is the driving force, thereby ignoring the separation of church and state so wisely outlined by our founding fathers.  Health care?  Hey, if you can afford it, fine...if not, too bad. They certainly don't think we need those pesky health care laws that allow many millions of our citizens access to decent health care.  Entitlements?  Surely, they say, we need to get rid of them, except of course, the ones that pertain to us.  And, oh yes, while we are at it lets get rid of welfare and food stamps, as well, since all those people are nothing more than lazy freeloaders.

Then, of course, less out in the open is their belief that blacks and other minorities are inferior, and oh Lord, they think, now we even have a black president....the shame, the shame. 

Simply put, these are the people who want to tell you how to live.  If you are liberal, a racial minority, gay, not of the Christian religion, or not of any religion at all, a union member, or any other designation they wish to assign to you that shows you are not one of them, they want to pass laws to make you conform to their way of thinking, and they are prepared to organize against any candidate that doesn't fall in line with their thoughts about such laws

Easiest would be to just dismiss them as a group of village idiots who don't realize what humanity is really all about.  This would be a grave mistake, as they represent a dangerous obstacle to the democracy guaranteed all citizens by the constitution.  They want to put anyone who doesn't swallow their brand of social engineering swill in the back of the bus, or in some cases, throw them off the bus entirely.

If you are anything like me, they make you mad as hell.  And to quote that famous line from the film, Network, we should all be screaming, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore."  I urge you to fight these people who want to steal our country with whatever means you think best, be it your money, your voice, your actions, or all three.

We have a fight on our hands, and we sure as hell better win it.  In fact, it's time the rest of us said NO....not in this country!